1889 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

Scriptures of the Old or Law Covenant), while that which wasadded by our Lord and the apostles is termed the NewTestament (the New Covenant) Scriptures.No other book which the world has ever known has such ahistory as the Bible. Its origin and authorship, its antiquity, itswonderful preservation in the midst of the unparalleled andcontinuous opposition which sought to destroy it, as well as itsdiversity and teaching, make the Bible the most wonderful bookin existence.It is a collection composed of sixty-six separate books, writtenby about forty different writers, living centuries apart, speakingdifferent languages, subjects of different governments, andbrought up under different civilizations. Over 1500 yearselapsed between the writings of Moses and of John.As no other reliable history dates so far back as the Bible, weare obliged to look mainly to its own internal evidence, as to itsorigin, authorship, and the reason for its existence, and indeedfor its credibility in every respect; and further, we should lookfor such corroboration of its statements as reason, its ownharmony with itself, and with other known facts, and subsequentdevelopments furnish. And indeed this is the evidence ofreliability on which all history must rest. To such evidence weare indebted for all our knowledge of past events and of allpresent events as well, except such as come under our ownimmediate observation. He who would cast away Bible historyas unworthy of credence, must on the same ground reject allhistory; and to be entirely consistent, must believe nothingwhich does not come under his own personal observation.If its statements, thoroughly understood, are contradictory, orare colored by prejudice, or are proven untrue by a positivescientific knowledge, or if subsequent developments prove itspredictions untrue, and thereby show the ignorance ordishonesty of the authors of the Bible, then we may reasonablyconclude that the entire book is unworthy of confidence, andshould reject it. But if, on the contrary, we find that a thoroughunderstanding of the Bible, according to its own rules ofinterpretation, shows its statements to be in harmony with eachother; if it bears no evidence of prejudicial coloring; if many ofits prophecies have actually come true, and others admit offuture fulfilment; if the integrity of its writers is manifested byunvarnished records, then we have reason to believe the book.Its entire testimony, historic, prophetic, and doctrinal, stands orfalls together. Science is yet in its infancy, yet in so far aspositive scientific knowledge has been attained, it should anddoes corroborate the Bible testimony.